Apple's iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus were unveiled on September 7, Wednesday and the missing headphone jack was one of the biggest changes after the iPhone 6s series. The tech giant is bundling a pair of Lightning EarPods and 3.5mm dongle with the smartphone, but it gives third-party accessory manufacturers the chance to create more than portable chargers and smartphone cases. iPhone fans will have to use a cornucopia of adapters, dongles, and chargers until wireless headphones become an industry standard.
Car chargers and other iOS accessories are already sold. However, in recent years there have been no design changes to smartphones that that have driven demand for accessories from third-party manufactures like removing the 3.5mm headphone jack from iPhones.
The decision creates new problems for consumers. However, Apple's marketing chief Phil Schiller explained to BuzzFeed News that the move away from wired headphones will be difficult for some iPhone owners, but they must do it within time, according to The Verge.
Schiller stated during the September 7 event that the decision to remove the 3.5mm headphone jack from the newest smartphone models was based on "courage."
Apple co-founder Steve Jobs used the same word at the D8 conference in 2010 to refer to the company's decision that iPhones would not support Flash Player.
iPhone owners will also have to purchase other accessories for the latest units. That includes new cases since the camera upgrades have changed the sizes of the handsets. The 4.7-inch iPhone 7 got some small changes and the 5.5-inch iPhone 7 Plus includes a dual-lens camera.
Several third-party companies are already working on new gadgets for iPhone 7. Anker is developing a pair of Lightning earphones to add to its product line of 3.5mm sport headphones.
The China-based company's products are sold on Amazon and often allow consumers to change multiple gadgets at one time. These mobile accessories allow Apple fans to change whole families of products such as for the new MacBook's USB-C port.
In related news, the iPhone 7 can now be pre-ordered online and shipments are set to start September 16, Friday, according to The Telegraph. Several models of the Apple device are already in high demand.
The iPhone 7 and 7 Plus have few design changes. However, new features include a flush home button, improved camera, faster processor, storage size starting at 32GB, and new colors.
Here's a review of iPhone 7: